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TI: Okay, so things were kind of going along, but then eventually the orders came out that you and the rest of people of Japanese ancestry had to leave the area.

TU: Yeah.

TI: Your family, you mentioned earlier, had a very successful farm. They purchased it in the late 1930s, they had some good crops, they actually paid it off, and it looked like it was going to be another good year. What happened to the property?

TU: You know, my brother, Rusty, in high school, took agricultural subjects from these teachers. There were two involved, one's name was Richardson, and I think the other one was called Bonito. I guess they took a liking to my brother and somehow they arranged to have them run the farm while we were away. I don't know just what arrangement Rusty made, what kind of monetary settlement they made or anything like that. I don't know if they paid our family enough money to pay their taxes and stuff. I don't know those details. And like my brother Gene says, it was more of a handshake agreement, no paperwork, just handshake agreement. But fortunately, these people, during crop season, that is the time to pick the fruits, they had enough high school kids to come help out. So it worked out just fine for them. First year, everything ready excepting for the picking of the fruits. Well, he just comes in at the right time, and I don't know just how much money we made, but we were just happy to get the farm back when we came back.

TI: So I guess taking a step back, it worked okay for the family but also worked okay for these two teachers, because it sounds like they were able to probably make some money.

TU: Yeah, well, they must have made some money because that's when the economy was gradually picking up, we were making money at that time. We were able to pay off the farm no problem. And the war in Europe was heating up, and so was Japan, and so wartime prosperity came into the picture and I guess that's why the fruits shipped to the east might have sold well. I don't know that.

TI: Well, so maybe I should ask this question. So from your perspective, was it a good arrangement for the family? I mean, you mentioned you got the farm back, but yet, they were very lucrative years where the family would have made a lot of money if they remained there. So how do you feel about that arrangement? Did it work out or not?

TU: Well, I don't know what my folks thought, but I think mainly we were happy to get the farm back. Because stories going around some lands were being taken up by the government, and then the escheat cases were kind of talked about where they're trying to take away the farms from the Japanese immigrants. So these wild rumors put us in a position where we're satisfied just to get the farm back.

TI: And after the war, when the family returned, did they stay on good terms with those two teachers? Would they remain friends and how did that work after the war?

TU: Well, see, that was in 1945, I mean, '42, '43, '45. Four years. I lost the train of my thought.

TI: Yeah, so the teachers had the farm for four years...

TU: Four years, yes.

TI: ...and then you would return.

TU: So in '45, and we took over the farm in '46. The '46 crop was ours. Yeah, my brother Rusty came back, I think, later part of, in the fall of...

TI: Probably fall of '45.

TU: Fall of '45, yeah.

TI: And then, so then starting... yeah, so he would prepare the fields and then the spring or summer of '46 he would have the...

TU: Okay, by that time, in '46, May of '46 now, the farm's in productive stage, that's when I come back from the army. See, I got discharged in May of '46.

TI: So just in time for the harvest, so you could go help with the harvest.

TU: Yeah. So after that was done, I left the farm to go to Cal to the fall session. So I don't know if my brother kept up in contact with these two teachers or not.

TI: But going back to the harvest of '46, when you came back, was that a pretty good year, did you make some money off that year?

TU: I never got into the family finances, but I think they did. I just worked there. [Laughs]

TI: Okay.

TU: When you're number four son, you don't get in on all the decision-making.

TI: But what happened was Rusty found two teachers, they took care of the farm while you went, and your, rest of the family went away to camp.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.